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Anaheim City Hall. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\nFederal deportation efforts could be ramping up in Orange County as immigrant advocates, volunteers and city officials in Anaheim and Santa Ana have noticed an uptick in ICE raids.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a little bit of a reprieve from ICE\u2019s illegal activities over the last few weeks, but they have been back in force in Orange County again violating people\u2019s constitutional rights \u2013 regardless of citizenship status under the law,\u201d said USC professor and local immigrant advocacy volunteer Jody Vallejo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a Thursday phone interview, she said her volunteer colleagues at the OC Rapid Response Network \u2013 an immigrant advocacy group that tracks federal deportation efforts \u2013 are seeing people\u2019s constitutional rights being violated by federal agents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are acting in ways that are inhumane, they are violating due process rights that people have and because they are so rogue and relying on stereotypes,\u201d Vallejo said. \u201cThey are casting these nets that ensnare legal residents and United States citizens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ramp up comes after President Donald Trump\u2019s administration began focusing deportation efforts elsewhere in the country \u2013 like Chicago and New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Citizens Caught up in Car Wash Raid\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anaheim City Hall. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
Officials in Anaheim have also noticed an uptick, noting a recent raid at the Euclid Car Wash \u2013 a spot that federal agents have been to multiple times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, Anaheim saw what appeared to be broader, roving enforcement at a restaurant and car wash by Border Patrol and other agencies, part of stepped-up enforcement throughout Orange County. Since mid-August, Anaheim has mostly seen targeted enforcement operations focused on individuals, rather than broader operations at Home Depots, car washes and other public places,\u201d reads an Oct. 22 update<\/a> on Anaheim\u2019s city website.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sandra De Anda, program coordinator for the OC Rapid Response Network, said federal agents showed up to the Euclid Car Wash in West Anaheim on Oct. 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our ICE watchers was there, she got there minutes before the enforcement began,\u201d De Anda said, adding that the volunteer warned the car wash employees.<\/p>\n Bethany Anderson, who heads up Camino Immigration Services<\/a>, said two citizens were caught up in the car wash raid \u2013 where she was serving as a legal observer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey let one of the guys go they tackled to the ground and the second guy that they tackled, they put him in a car then the other guys were trying to advocate for him, saying he\u2019s a US citizen,\u201d Anderson said in a Friday phone interview. \u201cHe was released about an hour later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the city doesn\u2019t know when deportation activities are going to happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe rely on a collaboration between public safety, dedicated activists, neighborhood leaders and social media.\u00a0 While we have seen continuing enforcement, we have not seen a rise as compared to neighboring cities and counties. Our focus remains on helping our neighbors, with dedicated information and resources available to our residents in their time of need,\u201d Aitken said in a Thursday text message.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anaheim City staff provide regular updates on the website, noting a recent uptick in ICE sweeps \u2013\u00a0 especially in nearby Santa Ana, where officials don\u2019t provide daily public updates.\u00a0 Over the summer, Anaheim City Council members voted to join a federal lawsuit \u2013 stemming out of Los Angeles \u2013 against the federal government in a case alleging that roving patrols and unwarranted stops amount to racial profiling and violate people\u2019s constitutional rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n [Read: Orange County\u2019s Largest Cities Take a Stand Against ICE Sweeps<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201cWe condemn how some federal immigration enforcement has played out in our city and do not support any excessive enforcement activity that destabilizes families, neighborhoods and our economy. As of Oct. 2, Anaheim has been admitted to and has officially joined a federal lawsuit, known as Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, et al., v. Kristi Noem, et al., challenging some enforcement tactics,\u201d reads Anaheim\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, Fullerton City Councilwoman Shana Charles also publicly raised concerns on how immigration enforcement is being done after a resident read the 5th Amendment\u2019s due process protections during public comment at Tuesday\u2019s city council meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI really appreciate that somebody took out the (U.S.) Constitution and read the 5th Amendment,\u201d Charles said, adding that the founding fathers didn\u2019t use the word \u201ccitizen\u201d in due process rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJust above that was Amendment number four which is also prohibiting illegal search or seizure and it explicitly says \u2018no persons,\u201d she said. \u201cNo person should be denied any of those protections and everyone should get due process no matter what.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security didn\u2019t answer specific questions about roving enforcement efforts, but provided an overview of how many people have been arrested since June.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince June 6, 2025, ICE and CBP arrested more than 7,100 illegal aliens in the Los Angeles area,\u201d reads an Oct. 22 email from an unnamed spokesperson. \u201cIllegal aliens have a choice: they can either leave now voluntarily and receive a $1,000 or they can arrested, detained, and removed without the ability to return the right legal way.\u201d<\/p>\n Are Policy Shifts Creating Undocumented Immigrants?<\/p>\n Anderson \u2013 who heads up Camino Immigration Services \u2013 said shifts in federal immigration policies are making people undocumented.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is an intentional dismantling of the immigration legal system,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThey\u2019re creating undocumented immigrants, they\u2019re creating people without status.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Anderson also noted federal officials are revoking people\u2019s temporary protected status and putting them in deportation proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not criminals, it\u2019s the most vulnerable of the immigrant population that are being made undocumented. Immigration has their information because they\u2019re applying, they\u2019re trying to do it the right way and they\u2019re being targeted,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n De Anda and Vallejo also echoed what Anderson said, adding it\u2019s not just the Latino community that\u2019s being impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting calls from every single community out here in Orange County,\u201d De Anda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLast night we had two Vietnamese families join our community space \u2013 both of their loved ones got taken at their ICE check-in and actually my friend\u2019s dad just got taken at his ICE check-in, he\u2019s Vietnamese too,\u201d De Anda said in a Oct. 23 phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vallejo said the deportation efforts are impacting all immigrants.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an issue that touches a broad swath of our community. ICE is publicly targeting Latinos, but there\u2019s constant actions against Middle Eastern immigrants in Orange County, Asian immigrants in Orange county, Black immigrants \u2013 they\u2019re not as public as the attacks on Latinos,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vallejo said the situation is going to have a lasting impact on various communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a county with a diverse set of immigrants and these kinds of effects ripple within communities and across generations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: Ashleigh Aitken\u2019s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@SpencerCustodio<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
\u201cWe are tracking stepped-up enforcement in Santa Ana and throughout the region over the past few days. Anaheim has not seen major enforcement activity since Oct. 16,\u201d reads the Anaheim Thursday update<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_4901-preview-copy.jpg\")
The cart and belongings left by the man arrested by federal immigration officials in Artesia Pilar, a Latino neighborhood in Santa Ana, Calif., on June 14, 2025. Credit: SPENCER CUSTODIO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ImmigrationCourt_SantaAna_May282025_Taylor-19-3.jpg\")
A girl clings to her mother\u2019s side following the arrest of her father by federal agents the Santa Ana Immigration Court on May 28, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n